Blog

All posts in Blog

Stagecraft Adda serves as a forum for Stagecrafters to ideate and innovate. Right from writing for stage to acting, direction, design or lighting, Stagecraft Adda aims to supplement Stagecraft Theatre with a pool of talented individuals having already proved their mettle on stage. It aims to create a set-up where-in intriguing ideas can be developed by a team of established theatre persons and bright youngsters in collaboration and taken to the next level. Nurturing latent talents and exploring experimental theatre is what the Adda wishes to do, which would otherwise take a backseat in the hustle of setting up a mainstream production.

Every show of Stagecraft Adda involves talented directors presenting 10 minute plays written or adapted by someone within the group, presented with a cast of their own choice; each director, writer and actor adding their own flavour into the mix, bringing about a lovely concoction of “Sugar and Spice”. After two successful editions, we present

2) Babul Mora
‘What happens when the fourth wall disappears, and the audience invades the stage? Who suffers when civic responsibility clashes with self-preservation? Watch this play within a play for the answers.’

10) Mere Papa ki Girl Friend.
‘Sunny Leone and wine Can make a man a swine, But with his wife is it fine? A story of thine and mine.’
Writer- Eshan Sarma
Director-N V Sarma
Cast: N V Sarma, Sunalini Sarma, Eshan Sarma.

Stagecraft Theatre, Nagpur brings the 1908 classic of children’s literature to the stage in its production of ‘The Wind in the Willows’. The play closely mirrors the book by Kenneth Grahame as it portrays the adventures of its five beloved animal characters – Rat, Mole, Toad, Otter and Badger. Interweaving dialogue, mime and music with Kenneth Grahame’s narrative, the play attempts to recreate this delightfully timeless, charming story for today’s audiences.

With the arrival of spring, the good-natured Mole flees his underground home and meets Ratty, a water rat who invites him to live with him in his home on the river bank. Mole becomes friends with Ratty, Otter, Badger and Toad. When the rich, jovial and somewhat conceited Toad wreaks havoc with his latest motor-car fad, the animals decide to teach him a lesson. Eventually, Toad’s home is taken over by weasels, stoats and ferrets from the Wild Wood and the five friends team up to drive away the intruders and reclaim Toad Hall.

Noted for its blend of morality, adventure and camaraderie, the story is as relatable today as it has ever been. The play offers a welcome respite from super-fast, hyper-connected, uber-technological city life and harks back to a time of leisure, wonder and wanderlust in simple pleasures and pastoral joie de vivre. Come absorb “the sparkle, the ripple, the scents and the sounds and the sunlight”.

Stagecraft Theatre’s musical trip with Alice in Wonderland is definitely worth undertaking. A well scripted show, Stagecraft Theatre and it’s team of performers, young and old, have shown considerable maturity and have come up with something quiet entertaining.

Stagecraft Theatre Presents : Alice in Wonderland- The Musical.

A world of wonders in one enchanting musical.

Alice the protagonist must find her way through this strange place called “Wonderland”.She is a 7 year old girl who while sitting with her sisters falls asleep and enters this world by falling down a rabbit hole. She follows the White Rabbit who leads her on many adventures throughout the book. The story is full of fanciful characters, each one adding a bit of humor and dimension to the story.

Alice encounters various talking animals – a White Rabbit who acts as Alice’s guide, the Caterpillar who provides Alice with a way to control her growth, a smiling cat who can disappear and reappear at will; there is the Queen of Hearts, the mad tyrant who rules Wonderland.

The story is both entertaining and symbolic in the way that character teaches Alice something about life and growing up in a dangerous world.

For several days every year, the NCPA, flings its doors open to nascent stage productions from Mumbai and elsewhere. Centrestage stands out from the throng of theatre festivals across the country by being India’s only multilingual festival of premiering plays. Vikash Khurana, who heads Stagecraft, is directing and acting in Rope, a stage adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s critically-acclaimed Hitchcockian thriller of the same name, says, “It is empowering to think of theatre without the trappings of language. This is especially relevant in a country like India and in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai. A multilingual collection of plays draws diverse groups and thereby diverse audiences.” READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE

Being flagged amongst the “5 Lost Hitchcocks”, the film based on Hamilton’s renowned playRope went on to be a masterpiece shot in ten takes with a few edits. The play that was written in 1929 and which later became a series in 1938 and subsequently a motion picture in 1948, was Hamilton’s first theatrical hit. The play garnered massive response in its time and still continues to amuse theater aficionados.

A Stagecraft Theater Production of Nagpur presented a re-enactment of the play at NCPA’S Centrestage Festival. Recreating a masterpiece which is a challenge in itself was taken up and given its due justice by the team. Keeping the story constant, the play was molded to suit the Indian audience with a few changes in the characters and the settings.

Here’s a look at how a fresh take on Rope bagged a standing ovation from the audience:

‘Rope’ keeps audience riveted – The Times of India, Nagpur.

NAGPUR: For those who have stomach for the morbid, IMA’s JR Shaw auditorium was the place to be in on Saturday afternoon. An adaptation of the famous Patrick Hamilton play ‘Rope’, directed by Vikash Khurana was staged here.

A thriller from start to finish, the play has a philosophical edge as it takes refuge in intellectual superiority to justify an act like murder. It is the story of two engineering students who kill their batchmate, hide his body in a trunk and go on to have a party where the victim’s father is also invited. The trunk with the body inside serves as a dining table at this party.

Khurana and his team get it right from the first scene. The use of lights and sound, the restrained acting and the mood, that a mix of all three of these creates, keep the viewer glued. Strong story and cryptic dialogues keep the sense of drama alive. The six actors remain on stage all along the duration. Each has a distinct part which adds to the drama. Nandan Majumdar and Varun Vij as two young students who are perpetrators of the crime look their part. Majumdar’s strong character is a perfect foil to that of Vij who is a bundle of nerves. Anurag Kulkarni as Shirish Jagdale, the father of the deceased creates the right amount of pathos as he asks the two murderers of his son about his whereabouts. Khurana as Riaz Khan brings the required maturity to the character as Khan understands the youth and the queer logic behind their crime.

Making an allowance for those who come in late, a light hearted skit was presented by Supantha Bhattacharya at the beginning of the play. “We didn’t want the audience to miss the beginning as the storyline hinges on it. And as the play is very sombre this banter was a foil to it,” said Bhattacharya.

Performing on stage has been an integral part of my formative years. From the time when I was a toddler pushed up on stage, to now when I yearn to be on it….the journey has been great. With all sorts of performances ranging from fancy dress competitions, dancing, acting, elocution and even singing in choirs, I am grateful to have been able to do it all. I vividly remember my ‘debut’ on stage and thankfully instead of a flush of embarrassment I can now laugh at it. I must be no more than four years old and, according to my mother, mimicked the sound of a puppy very well. So with all due encouragement and claps I was called on stage to perform my act. With knees knocking and toes curled up, a sob here and ‘bow-wow’ there, I can safely say, nobody would have expected me to come back ever again!

But there I was again the following year, thanks to mommy dearest and her enthusiasm, dancing in a ghagra (with sports shoes!!) to some Rajasthani song. There followed a series of fancy dresses where I became everything from a mermaid to a cactus; danced with dandias in hand to diyas the following year…all with great shyness. All this was during the cultural activities of our community. The school concerts weren’t doing much to boost my confidence either. I must thank my teachers, first of all, for giving me opportunities time and again, but there was nothing to be done for my mouse-like voice and skinny frame.

After a fair amount of playing housewife and other miscellaneous roles, by the time I reached high school I actually began enjoying the stage experience. By then I had done a few elocutions, won a few—and lost some, gone for camps and adventure activities got myself noticed in sports… all in all, my stage fright had begun receding.

I liked it and the audience wasn’t exactly booing me off-stage either. The best part of stage performance is all the days leading up to it. The practices, rehearsals, dress rehearsals and of course, the fun and games!

After passing out of school, the best was yet to come. By a freak chance of fate I landed an amazing role of a dumb secretary in Mr. Vikash Khurana’s play. Most of Nagpur knows him and vice versa. He happens to be a family friend and thus I came in contact with ‘Stagecraft Productions’. He instilled enough faith in me to perform the role [reason also being that at that time he couldn’t find anyone else!] and taught me the finer nuances of stage dramatics.

The exposure I received due to this opportunity was new for me and felt great. The exhilaration of performing and the high one gets out of it in the end is a mixed feeling of happiness and despair. Happiness, because it went well; and despair, because the fun would soon end. Until of course the next script came in hand. And yes, a couple of more scripts did come in hand after that, and it was a wonderful thing to mingle with so many like-minded people, some of whom have become dear friends now. And I won’t be coy about the fact that it thrills me to see my name and occasionally picture in the newspaper the next day! But I’ll admit, I still don’t feel all that confident about taking things up as such and nor am I comfortable with the idea of taking over the mike and compeering. Hopefully one day I will!

I personally feel that stage dramatics is a great interest to nurture but very difficult to initiate and produce. Hats off to Mr. Vikash Khurana for his unending enthusiasm towards the art. Nagpur drama is yet to come of age but we are on our way towards it. Perhaps one day it will come up with something that will make the city proud; and I sure hope I am a part of it!

———————-

Side note- I am now married and settled in Hyderabad caring for my twin boys. But this article was written in 2004 and I can safely say my hopes have been realized with Stagecraft Productions and V. Khurana going great guns…. So proud!